What if Gore had picked Edwards in 2000?

What if, what if.

I'm sure they wouldn't have won NC, but the combination of Gore's vision and Edward's perceived vibrancy of youth might have put them over the top in Florida.

Oh well!

I found Edwards' presentation lacking, seemingly insincere. While I thought his heart was in the right place he struck me as phony.  I suppose his political past opposing labor, voting non-progressive and being a founding member of the New Democrats, the Senate arm of the DLC, were all red flags to me that seemed to cast the sudden reversals of points of views towards the progressive tilt in the dubious light of opportunism, knowing full well that progressive values were going to sell to Democratic primary voters in this cycle.  

I am unhappy that Elizabeth Edwards, who deserves all the sympathy in the world for what she is going through, decided to back her husband in his quest for the presidency after learning about the affair early on, knowing full well that an Edwards nomination would lead to electoral disaster for the Democrats and to general disaster for the country. She should have persuaded Edwards that it was entirely foolish and downright criminal to go on, and if he refused she should have excused herself from the race altogether instead of going to bat for Edwards as strongly as she did, every day.  

IF he were a Repug. he would be in ascendency.

I never really bought Edwards sudden embrace of populism.

He was such a typical southern centerist in his voting pattern in Congress.

I think he thought he had a winning strategy, and no one ever said he wasn't smart.

Still, I looked at the sum total of all his votes and I saw DLC written all over it.

I loved his message. I didn't trust the messenger.

For someone my age I cannot help but be reminded of the 1984 election when Gary Hart's campaign imploded from the back of a yacht named "Monkey Business."  As a die-hard Mondale supporter and campaign volunteer I remember my disappointment when several friends chose to support Gary Hart instead.  It is difficult to put into words the emotional investment an activist makes for a candidate including the time and money that goes along with it.

There was nothing Machievallian about the Hart campaign imploding and having my Canidate of choice benefit.  Instead I watched my friends in a gut wrenching act disavow the Hart candidacy and walk away emotionally destroyed by his betrayal.  I didn't know Hart's family though I had enormous sympathy for them.  But i did know my friends who made that emotional investment.  I watched in helpless despair as they had their guts ripped out by someone they believed in.  What an awful year that was.

As a life long Democrat I had a perfect record through the 2000 election of chosing a candidate early and having them be the eventual nominee dating back to 1976.  Not until 2004 did I miss when I chose to support Howard Dean for President.  Once the Dean campaign faded after Iowa I shifted my support ot John Edwards.  I was somewhat justified in my support once Kerry chose Edwards for a running mate which made my continued support in 2008 only stronger.

After the election in 2008 I was and still am elated that Barack Obama won.  I had put my support down as a noble effort on my part to continue to support a candidate who I thought had America's best interest at heart with a hopeful wish that we had not heard the last of John Edwards on the national stage.  I cannot put into words the rage and anger I had toward him at this betrayal of not just me but those who gave their all in support of his candidacy.  My anger was not just aimed at Edwards but Elizabeth as well for letting this charade continue even after she discoverd the affair.  In hind sight she should have blown the whistle on him and the whole campaign before it even got off the ground to save die hard supporters heart ache, time and money.

Upon reflection though I realized that when you find your life threatened with a terminal disease and reaching for you family for support these other mitigating factors seem insignificant by comparison.  In any event my break with Edwards is complete now.  I don't want to hear from him and I'm not interested in reading about anything he's involved in.  The only thing I can take from this is the gratification that his 2008 campaign did have the effect of moving the field to the left more than they would have on their own.  I agree with the above commenter whole heartedly who pointed this out.

As for Edwards though, yeah, I'm done with him.

Thanks for nothing John.

I am sorry but Edwards is still the best candidate for me.  He was the one had the most progressive platform.

I cannot believe people are still defending John Edwards! The guy was always a liar. He stands only for himself and has no convictions...HE is a used car salesman.. say anything do anything to get what he wants.

Its been fun watching him flame out. Too bad his wife has to resort to using all this to peddle her latest book. She doesn't know if he is the father of this kid but still lives with him and is married to him? What kind of a freaking relationship is that??

Seriously, I can't stand these guys and getting rid of them is the best thing that has happened. Thankfully the guy is buried and is now a punchline to a joke.

Oh and lets not forget he is under investigation for using campaign funds to pay off his woman on the side. Any way you slice its clear she had no experience doing what she was paid to do so she was being paid to do something else..

Listen, I was a strong supporter of John Edwards here on the diaries and I raised a some money for him as well.  Anyone who thinks his populism was "suddenly embraced" is a complete moron.  Populism was his hallmark since first running for office in 1997/1998.

I enjoy that he brought up the issue of poverty and all that jazz, but I was repulsed when after losing the primary and not being selected as Obama's running mate he shut down the school program he created in North Carolina (a campaign prop, in my opinion).  Not to mention his family values campaign about being devoted to his wife and kids, etc (who were also campaign props, I'm afraid).

I'm still thankful that Edwards was in the race.  I think he brought Clinton and Obama to the left especially on health care.

While I hope someone in the party will pick up the issues Edwards carried and dropped, I hope they do it with a little more genuineness.

My, my, how things have changed around here in two short years.  It seems to me that running for the presidency with this kind of baggage was absolutely unforgivable, and given the significant, one might say unequivocal, support Edwards had among progressives it is a brilliant piece of luck that his campaign fizzled when it did.  Though he arguably did tug the other candidates to the left he did so at the risk of knowingly damaging the progressive 'brand' with his shenanigans all the while.

Hard to fathom, frankly, and Trippi should have known better too.

until after his announcement tour, so that he would have an excuse not to "raise question" by dropping out.

It's too bad he was dumb enough to think he wouldn't get caught. On the other hand, look how many politicians get away with having affairs.

I am sad to see so many bloggers bashing Elizabeth. John didn't level with her about the extent of the affair and certainly didn't tell her he would continue to see the other woman during 2007. Elizabeth had 30 years invested in their marriage and his career, and I'm surprised to see so many people condemn her for campaigning with her husband. As far as she knew, the affair was over in December 2006.

The messed up thing is he HAD the perfect out to leave the race with no questions or issues and preserve his standing... When they announced Elizabeth was terminal.